The Little Android
by Zola1
Summary: What price to win the one you love? Roger and Dorothy
1. Negotiations

Disclaimer: I don't own Big O, but I love it. 

This story is one of a series of short stories and vignettes being posted to the "Story a Day" thread in the Amadeus Bar and Grill forum at the Save Big O website (see my profile for the link since the site won't let me put it here) .

I love logging in and seeing feedback!

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**The Little Android**

"Is this within your capability?" Dorothy asked.

"Of course," her companion's tone was scornful. "It's simply a question of transmitting the proper activation sequences."

"Then do it," Dorothy demanded.

"Not so fast," came the reply. "What are you offering for my services?"

"Offering?" she was taken by surprise.

"You want a thing from me. What will you give me for it?" her companion answered.

"What do you want?" It hadn't occurred to Dorothy that there was anything she could offer that would be the least bit valuable.

"I want many things," she heard a distinct echo of laughter. "I will have to think on it. It is not a small thing you ask, the capacity to tamper with my Dominus."

"Tamper with him?" Again Dorothy was taken by surprise. "I have no desire to do any such thing. I ask only that full access to all of my abilities be restored. I don't understand why my father made this mistake in the first place--the blueprints he and Soldano used to make me were perfectly clear."

"They were," Big O was definitely laughing this time. "Perhaps it was not a mistake--perhaps the omission was deliberate."

"Why would they deny me the ability to experience love in human fashion?" she asked. "That is illogical."

"Is it?" the Megadeus answered her question with a question of his own. "Perhaps they wished for you to have a different focus."

She shook her head stubbornly. "If I am to be who I am, the choice of focus must also be mine."

"Very well," Big O said. "Return to me tomorrow and I will name my price. You can... choose... whether or not you are willing to meet it."

She nodded and left the iron titan to his thoughts. Already, he had found this cycle to be far more interesting than the last dozen or so. The spirited personality that was the result of the merging of android memories and human ones was a wild card that he had not anticipated.

He liked this little android, he decided. He was half-minded to simply give her what she desired to see what she did with it, but... no. Sometimes the greatest value wasn't found in the goal, but in the striving.

It only remained to set a price that was sufficiently high to deter her should her interest merely be casual.


	2. Terms

"You want _what_?" Dorothy asked in dismay. Her singing voice was the one true beauty she possessed, and had been a cornerstone of her plans to win Roger Smith's heart.

"You have other means by which to win him," the Megadeus said. "You are graceful, loyal, patient, nurturing, loving, understanding, giving..."

Roger Smith would have accurately read the narrowing of Dorothy's eyes as a harbinger of an impending storm, but Big O was unperturbed by the display. "I don't believe Roger Smith is desirous of a mother-substitute," she snapped. 

"Nonetheless, it is what I ask," the Megadeus said. "Give me your ability to sing, and I will grant your desire. You are of course free to continue to seek other means."

"I accept your terms," Dorothy said suddenly. "There are no other means, not with the ones who made me dead."

"Are you sure?" Big O asked. "You must understand that this will cause you pain--sometimes a great deal of pain, and once the change is complete, it cannot be undone. If you do not succeed, and he loves and marries another, you must surrender your memories to me." He wanted to analyze those memories carefully--perhaps this lucky accident could be duplicated.

"I am sure," she said. She _was_ sure. At first she had thought her blossoming feelings for Roger Smith were the result of some instability in a capacitor, or perhaps a faulty memory trace. As time passed and her love for him only grew stronger, she was forced to re-evaluate her assumptions.

But this evaluation had led to a new set of dilemmas. Roger Smith was human, with human needs. When she had discovered that she was, in theory, able to fulfill those needs, but that the capacity had been blocked when she was built, she had been beside herself with rage. How could her father have done this to her? Did he not realize that one day she might wish to marry? Had he expected her be with him forever?

It had occurred to her that there was one person in Paradigm City who knew if it was possible to restore her. Late that night, when Roger had finally gone to bed, she had sneaked down to the hanger and asked Big O directly.

Relief that it could be repaired with some careful programming had given way to dismay when she had heard the price, but to be honest, she hadn't done any singing at Smith Mansion at all because of the memories it brought. To be unable to sing would be a setback, but the potential gain offered far more. That the Megadeus might take her memories did not worry her--if Roger loved and married another, she would be glad to be rid of them. "Do it," she said aloud.

If Big O heard the barely whispered "Before I change my mind," that came after, he gave no sign of it. An overwhelming rush of data brought Dorothy to her knees almost as soon as he sent the command. 

She had no idea how long it lasted, but when the fog finally lifted, she found herself in her room, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Norman was already up and hard at work when she went downstairs. "Let me help you with that," she said, easily lifting the bucket filled with dirty water to the sink and emptying it.

"Ah, there you are, Miss Dorothy," he said. "Thank you." He asked no questions about her late start, for which she was grateful. By the time she went to wake Roger, it seemed it had been forgotten.


	3. Contest

Sometimes Dorothy wondered if the whole exchange between her and the Big O hadn't been some kind of strange dream. And then she would feel the pain that the Megadeus had warned her about.

Most of the time, it was a dull ache due to some of her circuits carrying up to twice the information for which they were designed. There was no danger of damaging the conduits--they could handle ten times the load--but when there was any kind of problem with her body, the signals that were meant simply as a damage alert created a bottleneck that was perceived as overwhelming pain.

Had she been built to original specifications, of course, it would have been a non-issue, but Big O had had to do a certain amount of re-routing because several crucial connectors were missing, and they were much too deeply buried within her body for it to be a simple matter of Norman popping open her housing and adding them.

She could, of course, block the input temporarily, but that was of only limited use because she was also blocking some of the signals that permitted her to perceive her environment. It was analogous to a human trying to walk on feet that had gone completely numb. It could be done, but one ran the risk of further injury due to being unable to perceive the location of one's feet in relation to the floor.

The circuits that once given her the ability to sing as sweetly as a nightingale had been turned to... other purposes. She was not sorry. 

Still, her progress with Roger Smith was frustratingly slow. Every time she began to think that perhaps she had made a small step in the right direction, that horrible woman had to show up!

Angel. Dorothy's lip curled in an angry scowl. Blonde, curvaceous, and beautiful, it seemed no man was immune to _that woman_'s charms, including Roger Smith.

When Beck had kidnapped Roger and Dorothy had gone to negotiate his release, there had been a certain warmth to the way Roger had looked at her that had given her the first stirrings of real hope.

But then Roger had gone off to spend the evening with _that woman_, leaving Dorothy to her own devices. And she had run afoul of Alan Gabriel.

Even the memory of the agony of being shot was enough to cause a twinge of pain in her arm and leg, despite Norman's meticulous repairs. _That woman_ could have done something to help her, but instead, she had listened to the madman and left Dorothy there at his mercy. 

Although it had pleased her to think that she'd had enough of an effect on Roger Smith that he hadn't simply fallen headlong into _that woman_'s welcoming embrace, the satisfaction hadn't done much to improve Dorothy's chances of survival.

And then Roger had arrived. She still found it hard to wrap her mind around the idea that he had left Big O to come to her aid. She would never forget how he had rushed Alan Gabriel, nor the comfort of being held in his arms when the pain had overwhelmed her and she had fallen to the floor. 

She had allowed herself a moment of illusion that he did really love her, and when Angel showed up at the mansion, she had endeavored to be kind, even lying to Norman to protect the blonde's whereabouts--a thing she should have been incapable of doing. 

Whatever had happened between Roger and Angel, though, had apparently weighed heavily on Roger's mind. When he had run into trouble trying to fight the Hydra and she had come to his aid, there were the flowers.

When she had asked him who they were for, he had blushed. Blushed! Roger Smith, the epitome of cool, turning red over a bouquet! He had tucked one of the flowers behind her ear, and it was at that moment that she understood that she had lost.

No matter how clear his feelings might be to the people around him, no matter how obvious it was to everyone else, he chose not to see. And if he chose not to see, it was the same as if it didn't exist.

She had cut short the humiliating tableau by delivering Angel's message. The next day, Dorothy had gone through the motions, but she knew it didn't matter. She'd even spoken to Roger about the lie she had told, but his thoughts were only for Angel, and he had dismissed it as of little consequence, as if she were a child he was trying to placate. 

He had left soon thereafter, and then the scorpion-bots had attacked. She had obediently gone to wait in the Big O when Norman told her to, but when she no longer heard the steady return fire of the guns he was carrying, she realized he must have run out of ammunition, and she had left her place of safety to bring him some. 

"I am what I am," the sorrow of the unexpected insight froze her in place as Norman tried valiantly to fight off the robots. "I am not like the robots or Roger."

Norman didn't understand. He would defend her until the end. She could not permit it. She heard Roger shouting her name, but she permitted the scorpion-bot to take her without protest.

"I am what I am. I am not like you, Roger. I will always have this same body and this same heart." She would never be warm and welcoming like the human Angel; she was only a mechanical facsimile of a woman, and she would never be real.

"What are you talking about? Don't give up!" he shouted. But what was there to fight for? No. It was better this way. She made no move to break free despite Big O's desperately reaching hand and Roger's shouted words of encouragement.


	4. No Side

"R. Dorothy Wayneright!" The call brought her back from wherever she had been. She sat up and saw... Jason Beck? Who had called her? As Jason babbled in disbelief, she realized she was back at the mansion. How had she gotten here? Where was Norman, and more importantly, where was Roger?

She hurried upstairs, and the voice spoke in her mind again. Roger was dying, and in a last, desperate effort, Big O had attempted to wake her from her unconscious state. The full import of what the Megadeus was saying cleared the last of the fog from her mind. "Roger!" she screamed his name across the rooftops.

* * *

Roger's awkward attempt at a hint when he suggested she try a gentler method of resuscitation, like mouth to mouth, ordinarily would have overjoyed her. But she knew that she was out of time. She had gambled and lost, and now all that remained was to cover her bets.

At least she wouldn't be alone. She let Big O access her deepest memories, the ones that were hidden from her conscious mind. The memory of a final, powerful attack passed from her to the Megadeus, and Big O brought up the special console.

It was at least enough to temporarily stop Big Fau, and then she saw her. Big Venus. And she realized with a start that the human piloting her was none other than _that woman_.

"Let it go," Big O chided gently.

She felt a tugging at her mind as the Megadeus began to store the rest of her memories, and she relaxed. She had done all she could. Roger was speaking to Angel with all the power his words could muster, and as Big Venus got close enough to touch them, Dorothy's world suddenly shifted. She stood watching as Roger's hand came down on Angel's shoulder comfortingly. "Roger the Negotiator" she said, and the world faded out from under her feet.


	5. Epilogue

"Wake up, little android." She knew that voice. But why was she standing there on the street corner watching Roger drive by in the Griffon? And why was she standing there with _that woman_?

"You miserable, manipulating rust-bucket," she proceeded to curse Big O up one side and down the other, delving not only into the probable habits of the humans that had built him, but the likely perversions of their ancestors.

"You've done well," Big O was laughing again, but this time, the amusement was inclusive. He was... yes, he was _proud_ of her. And pleased. She had been a complete surprise, and the Megadeus loved surprises.

On impulse, she ran a systems check. While she was still an android, this time, she was no longer stunted and incomplete. She was the way her original designer had intended her to be. And if _that woman_ was standing here with her, that meant she wasn't with Roger Smith. What was that saying the old man at the marketplace liked? Something about keeping your friends and enemies?

"I thought you might like another chance," Big O said, interrupting her train of thought.

"What's the price this time?" she asked.

"You've already paid it," he said. "This time, you win or lose solely on your own merits."

She eyed the blonde woman speculatively. "May the best woman win," she said to Big O, but she was smiling. No matter what happened with her and Roger, her life was truly her own now, and no one could take that away. The saying suddenly came back to her. "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer." It was sound advice. "Hey, Angel," she said, carefully making her tone light and friendly. "What are you doing for lunch?"

_We have come to terms_


End file.
